Southern Water Tribe Surprises Chapter1
by cat.cruz93
Summary: Zuko decides to go with the rest of the gang  minus Toph  to the Southern Water Tribe, just to escape for a while, he and Katara start to bond over their journey there and a possible romance forms? read and find out


**Zuko**

**Hey Guys I'm back! i know it's been awhile but i need to catch up on grades and stuff. so this is kinda my first time writing an Avatar TLAB fic let me know what you think. and just so you know i prefer Zutara but i'm not entirely against KatAang. **

**Disclaimer: all characters and the main plot line belong to the creators of Avatar The Last Airbender series this just my little spin off**

_**Sothern Water Tribe Surprises: Chapter 1**_

"_Goodbye Zuko, I Love you." Mother said she came over my bed and pulled my sleeping body into her arms, "Mm…Mother?" I asked feeling groggy, "Zuko, promise me you'll always remember who you are. And remember I've done everything in my power to protect you. Can you do that?" She asked holding my chin so I could look her in the eye. _

"_Mmm…Yes Mother –" I fell back to my pillow __too__ tired to maintain consciousness. __Then she stood and walked away from me.__ When I woke I remembered the conversation the night before. I __ran to find my mother, __when I __came to our spot by the pond, __Father was standing__ there with his back turned to me__. "Wh-where is she?" I yelled he didn't respond__ I felt the tears fall from my eyes, I was left alone with my horrible sister and angry, __greed-driven father who both never truly cared or loved me….I was left alone. _

I awoke sweat poured down my face, Katara, Sokka and Aang were all asleep on Appa's back, I looked out to the sun rise as we flew through the sky. I shivered and pulled out my coat and wrapped myself in it. I heard shuffling behind me. I turned to see Katara stretching and pulling out her coat as well. "Morning, Zuko." She said in a hushed voice. "Morning." I said as I looked back out at the sun. "How was your sleep?" she asked sitting down next to me. "It was okay, I guess, I had a dream about my mother." I said, feeling tears fill my eyes. _Not in front of her, you will not break down in front of Katara!_ I mentally scolded myself. I swallowed hard to keep the emotions in check. "I had one about my mother, too." She said quietly. That stunned me; she was willing to open up to me? Since when? She hated me!

"I-I'm sorry about your mother Katara. Although I was probably too young to be there…" I said feeling guilty for her mother's death. Katara laughed, "You were but I remember your uncle gloating over you. He told Sokka that you two might get along since you were pretty close to Sokka's age." She said with a small smile. "He liked the fact that Sokka was spunky, he said you were extremely spunky too and that Sokka would be good for you, because his son was too old to hang out with you and you were stuck around girls all the time." It was my turn to laugh, that was true, my cousin had died long before I was old enough to be any fun to him, I was constantly being followed by girls, my sister, Mai and Ty lee always following me around asking me obnoxious questions that didn't have to do with anything anyone was talking about ever. "We-were you just reliving your mother's death?" I asked trying not to look at her.

"Yes and no, it was more her saying goodbye in a more peaceful way, just tucking me and Sokka in at night, kissing us on the forehead. You know motherly things." Katara sounded so peaceful, I turned to see that she was indeed crying, but not like sobbing, just a few tears to ease the pain. I wrapped my arm around her, nothing more than comforting, and let her cry for a while. "What exactly happened to your mother?" she asked finally calming down. "She…..left to…protect me? Yeah I think that's why" I replied feeling confused and hurt. "Did she at least say goodbye?" Katara looked at me directly in the eye, which is quite a feat; most people have a hard time doing that. "Yes, but I was half a asleep when she did so it felt more like a dream than anything, I couldn't believe it when I woke up…but my father's silence towards me told me it was true." I replied a bitter taste entered my mouth when I spoke of Father. "H-how old were you…?" Katara maintained eye contact; did she think I was lying?

"I was about ten or eleven. Maybe a little bit younger than Aang." I said feeling a very heavy weight on my chest now. I didn't want to talk about it, it hurt too much, I had been too young to lose anyone, let alone my own mother. "I'm so sorry Zuko." Katara gave me a full on hug, something I rarely got, even from Uncle. The gesture broke the dam I had built up around me to maintain my emotion. I cried for what felt like the first time in forever. "Shhh its okay, we'll find her, okay? Everything will be just fine." Katara said soothingly, rubbing my back in small circles. Sokka must have woken up because I felt her stop and glare or something at her brother before she went back to comforting me. I calmed down fairly quickly and pulled back, "Thank you Katara." I said with a small smile. She smiled back and nodded, "Anytime, Zuko." She replied. I was about to start a new topic when I heard Aang, the boy of many uncomfortable questions, ask, "What's going on? Why were they hugging Sokka?". And Sokka being the only one to answer said uncomfortable questions replied, "I don't know buddy, I think Zuko was crying about something, how about you ask them." Of course, just like him…..

Aang came over to me and Katara and in that ever so curious way of his started asking questions. "Why were you two hugging? Was Zuko crying? Zuko why were you crying? Did you have a scary dream? I cry when I have scary dreams." I rolled my eyes at the million and one (Okay four and a statement) questions he asked. "It was sort of a dream." Katara said trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation. "Well what happened in the dream? Did the Fire Nation collapse right in front of you? Did your uncle yell at you? Did your dad hurt you again?" he asked firing of questions a mile a minute. All I could think was, _No, no, no but I will hurt you if you don't shut up!_ Maybe then he would be quiet for a while. But instead I replied, "No, Uncle yells at me all the time, if Father hit me again I'm certain I would hit back harder, and no the Fire Nation did not collapse in front of me for any apparent reason." Katara didn't like that fact that I was being tight lipped about this but she should be happy that I even shared it with her; I'm not one for speaking of things that break my heart.

Aang still looked confused and curious, so Katara told him we were just remembering our mothers, I didn't like it but it was the truth, I hoped Aang might leave us alone now that he knows that answer to his questions….and of course I was wrong. "Oh I'm sorry about that you guys, you know one time when I was at the air temple…." I tuned out at about that point because half the time I don't where his stories fit in to the conversation. I watched as Katara's eyes lit up when she laughed at something funny Aang said, or the way her hair blew around her head in the wind. Wait….what? Why was I watching her? I was seriously confused. "Zuko, wasn't that funny?" Katara asked bringing me back from Lala land, "Uh…yeah super funny." I said not really sure what I was agreeing to. "Well, in case you didn't hear me, Momo can tell you about it." Aang said throwing the Lemur to me. Instantly the little animal started squeaking about nonsense, I didn't comprehend. Aang started talking to Katara again; I (for some very strange reason) got very angry at that. But I maintained calm, I figured I was just mad because he interrupted our conversation. Soon we landed in Katara and Sokka's homeland the Southern Water Tribe. I blew out a deep breath, I knew wasn't going to be welcomed kindly here; in fact Sokka warned me, some of them might attempt to kill me on sight, I wasn't worried though with Aang there people often just ignored me, which I'm fine with. So let me tell you I was excepting the worst kind of treatment when we landed and when women hugged me fiercely and men shook my hand thanking me for something I didn't register, I was kind of confused….okay I was seriously confused.

I looked at Aang, "What did I do? I thought they hated me." I asked. Aang laughed, "You saved the world and the Tribe it's self, with my help of course. But throwing your father in jail for the rest of his life was the best thing you could have done for these people, sending their husbands and sons home from war is even better." He said looking mildly amused. Then Sokka and Katara's father came up to us with a smile on his face. "Good to see you again, Fire Lord Zuko. Thank you for stopping by. The people didn't believe Ozai was locked away when I first told them. But My children helped them realize this; my daughter Katara convinced them that you were better, less violent, in a way." He said to me, I smiled and blushed slightly at the mention of Katara convincing them I was trust worthy. "We have tents set up for you two, right over there. Sokka will show you to them." He went on to say I smiled and followed Sokka to my tent, Aang trailed behind looking for Katara no doubt.

"So, what was with you and my sister this morning? I mean before the crying and all, you two were oddly…cuddly." Sokka said making me uncomfortable. "Uh, we were just talking about dreams and stuff." I said relatively calm, I ran my fingers through my grown out hair, Mother had always like my hair this way, I wish she could see me now, how I've grown. I got lost in thought when Aang pulled me back, "Zuko, I know….and if anything happens between you two, I'm okay with it." The little boy sounded so mature for his age, and then I remembered he was really one hundred and thirteen not just thirteen. I knew in reality he wouldn't be, Aang would be just as heartbroken as I would be if she chose him (_Why should I be heartbroken though?_), which she probably would…she trusted him more, she didn't entirely trust me. Then I remembered something Uncle said once, _**sometimes**__** the people you trust the most, hurt you the worst**_. Hah! That man was so crazy half the time I don't even know what he means, but that one was one of the few I understood, I trusted my father and I got burned, I trusted my mother and I got abandoned, I don't hate my mother, not entirely, yes I'm hurt she left me but she did it to protect me, to protect us…Azula and I that is.

Experiencing the water tribe was new, and exciting, at dinner they told storied of heroes of the tribe from the past, one of them Sokka was named after, but they shared no relation I was told, although I'm sure they were talking about him, not just some random old dude. But they made it seem like the Sokka now was no big deal, he tended to have an enlarged ego when complimented. A very humbling experience I'm sure. I chuckled as he pouted about not being "The Sokka" they were telling us about. Then the stories turned dark, less mystical, nobody died valiantly anymore, they kept returning to one key point the Fire Nation and its greed. My ancestors' greed, greed I hopefully didn't inherit. I know Azula did and that had been her down fall, that had been Father's down fall as well. I sure didn't want it to be mine. They threw colored smoke into the ashes and Katara controlled the smoke, using the water vapor from the wood to form shapes, making the tales more exciting for the young children. She watched my reaction to the tales every time they moved towards the Fire Nations power-hungry battles. I felt slightly self-conscious to the attention. She had never stared so much at me before except for when I forced her too.

I stood as the tales became more modern, I didn't want to be defaced in front of people I didn't know, didn't rule. I walked towards my tent as the stories went on. As I neared it, I felt someone behind me I stopped, "Good night Zuko." Katara whispered, I nodded and headed into my tent, feeling a blush creep over my cheeks as I closed the tent flap. "Good night Katara, sweet dreams." I whispered.


End file.
